1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to drying assemblies, and in particular, to a portable drying assembly for drying out elevated businesses and residences that have been subjected to flooding, such as high rise apartments or office buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Residences and businesses are oftentimes subjected to flooding, sometimes of a natural occurrence and sometimes the result of a broken water pipe. The water so introduced into the residence or business permeates everything which it contacts up to the level of the flood water and additionally generates a relatively high humidity within the residence or business which can affect walls and ceilings significantly higher than the flood line.
The only recourse in such a situation was to strip off and discard the affected floor coverings, remove the damaged furniture, and dismantle the damaged wall coverings and ceilings. Then portable fans would be positioned in the affected area to circulate air in an effort to dry out the water soaked floor boards, wall studs and ceiling joists. These fan units were relatively small and capable of being transported by hand and positioned at various locations within the residence or business. While these devices did affect the drying out of the flooded area, they did not do so efficiently or efficaciously. In fact, they took significant time to effectuate the drying process and in doing so allowed for mold to form on the interior framing of the residence or business. If this mold was not noticed and not removed, it would be covered up when the interior walls were re-sheet rocked and then such mold would then present a health hazard once the residence or business was reinhabited. It is imperative that the drying process be initiated and completed as soon as possible to avoid the development of mold.
Therefore there was a need for a drying unit which could dry out a damaged residence or business more efficaciously and more quickly. Applicant""s novel drying unit in application Ser. No. 09/799,925 addresses and solves this problem with respect to floors relatively proximate to ground level. There is still the necessity to remove water soaked floor coverings, furniture and sheetrock, however, Applicant""s unit supplies extremely dry, hot air in sufficient volumetric quantity to dry a comparable residence or business in approximately 10% of the time, thereby preventing the growth of mold and further permitting the inhabitant of the residence or business earlier access to the premises to effect repairs and redecorating.
This application is directed to an apparatus based upon the principles of application Ser. No. 09/799,925, but is specifically designed for use in high rise apartment""s, office buildings or the like where the apparatus of application Ser. No. 09/799,925 cannot reach.
An object of the present invention is to provide for a novel drying assembly to dry out a residence or business, particularly an elevated residence or business, subjected to flooding wherein the drying assembly introduces heated, ambient, low humidity air into the unit and removes moisture laden air from the flooded unit.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel drying assembly for drying a residence or business, particularly an elevated residence or business, subjected to flooding in which the moisture laden air is utilized to preheat the ambient air in a heat exchanger prior to its introduction to the residence or business.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel drying assembly for the drying of a residence or business, particularly an elevated residence or business, subjected to flooding in which preheated low humidity ambient air is introduced into the residence or business in sufficient volume to prevent the growth of mold.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel drying assembly which is portable and self-contained on its own hand truck and can be transported to a flooded elevated residence or business and be positioned within the flooded area with intake and exhaust conduits in communication with the ambient atmosphere.
A portable, hand truck mounted drying assembly for the drying of an elevated residence or business which has been subjected to flooding, the drying assembly being positioned within the elevated residence or business, said drying assembly having an inlet path for the introduction of ambient air into the residence or business, the drying assembly further having an outlet path for the evacuation of moisture laden air from the residence or business, each path having associated therewith a variable speed blower to insure the desired volumetric capacity regardless of the lengths of the paths, the inlet path and the outlet path both passing through a common preheat exchanger wherein the moisture laden exhaust air preheats the incoming ambient air, the preheated ambient air being further subjected to heating in a heater, the heater being in communication with a power source, the inlet conduit extending from said heater extending within said residence or business, and the exhaust conduit extending from the drying assembly back to the ambient atmosphere, both being flexible conduits of a sufficient diameter to achieve the desired volumetric flow rate.